Standard Candles

Jack McDevitt

In Standard Candles, wonders abound, with the lucidity and grace that have become McDevitt’s trademarks. This retrospective edition brings together sixteen of McDevitt’s best tales, evoking the awe that the best science fiction inspires.

Standard Candles

by Jack McDevitt

Jack McDevitt might be best known for his novels, but it was with the short-story form that he proved his mettle for years inside the pages of the top science-fiction magazines. This edition brings together for the first time sixteen of McDevitt’s greatest tales. It is here where the full extent of McDevitt’s talent is at last on display. In Standard Candles, wonders abound, with the lucidity and grace that have become McDevitt’s trademarks.

“…a writer who continually surprises. Just when you think you’ve caught his range, he soars beyond it. Space travel, philosophy, religion, archeology, tragedy—it’s all here, along with the kind of reflective, intelligent excitement that is all too rare in science fiction. These stories are treasures to linger over, reread, and remember long after you’ve closed the covers of the book.”
—Nancy Kress, author of After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall

“McDevitt’s tales have an emotional resonance that lingers well after the book has been set aside. Standard Candles is a strong, strong collection.”
—Cemetery Dance

“It’s not McDevitt’s style, though his prose is wonderfully clear and deceptively simple. It’s not his plots, though his stories always ask hard questions, and never settle for easy answers. For me it’s his humanity. McDevitt understands the way people talk and think and behave and still somehow has boundless compassion for the human animal.”
—Lewis Shiner

“The ideal writer can stretch your mind with a wonderful concept while also touching your heart with a personal story. Most of us fail at one or the other, but from the very beginning of his career Jack McDevitt has shown that he can do both.”
—Michael Cassutt

“You hold in your hand some of the best work of one of our best writers. Enjoy!”
—James Patrick Kelly, author of Burn

“Long after you’ve closed this book, the stories will stay in your mind and in your heart.”
—Karen Joy Fowler

Jack McDevitt is the author of twenty novels, including The Engines of God, Seeker, and Time Travelers Never Die. He has won the Nebula, Locus, Campbell, and UPC awards. He has been a taxi driver, naval officer, customs inspector, English teacher, and a motivation trainer for managers.

Praise for The Cassandra Project

“…Be warned to get comfortable before opening the book. You could put it down at some point, but why on earth would you want to?”
—Booklist, starred review

“…More than just a science-fiction novel…a credible mystery with just enough historical influence to make you think…wait, this could really have happened?”
—Examiner.com

“If you read ‘The Cassandra Project’ in LightSpeed and think you know how it ends, you are likely to be surprised…. A sheer pleasure…. Gave me that sense of wonder that attracted me to science fiction in the first place….”
—Jaime Todd Rubin

“A well-written ride through all sorts of back-door deals and hidden secrets…. I had a great ‘ah-ha’ moment or two as Resnick and McDevitt rewrote history in a way that doesn’t conflict with what we think we know.”
—Florida Times Union

“I devoured it in less than a day.”
—SF Revu

“Occasionally I’ll stumble across a gem. The Cassandra Project falls into the latter category…. I highly recommend this one.”
—SF Crowsnest

“…The societal questions it raises were just as entertaining as the science-fiction element. Enjoy the stay for the Is-There-a Conspiracy-or-Isn’t-There fun, but also enjoy it for the …glimpse of the next decade that McDevitt and Resnick have created.”
—James Floyd Kelly, Geekdad

“A masterpiece of storytelling and exploration of the paradoxes of time travel.”
—Booklist

“Shel and his friend Dave Dryden, a language expert, search for Shel’s father in Galileo’s Italy, Selma during the civil rights marches, and other famous times and places. Realizing that time resists paradoxes and history can’t be changed, the two friends seize the opportunity to live enriching, truly humane lives from Thermopylae to a few minutes in the future…. Ingeniously handles a tricky denouement….”
—Publishers Weekly